[IC] Riverwood Academy

[Penguin]

"Calm down. You're safe here. Who's this Josie and why does she have you so upset?"

Terraline begged to differ. Any place Josie was in was not a safe place. "Well she's my sister but we don't get along so to say,"She told the girl briefly and slowly sat up.

"Careful, the paralysis they gave you was also poisonous. It almost killed you so take it easy. They take many measures to try to make sure the person dies. Consider yourself lucky. "Xander said dryly, taking her shoulder, "Save the parade of questions for later. There's a orientation for the new year. They're going to hand out class schedules and everything out. You can ask questions there." He winked again at the girl before turning to go into the next room. He paused seeing two newcomers."What is this a side-show? You people have nothing better to do huh? "He sighed, brushing between the boy and girl to Josie's room.

Terry took a deep breathe. Poisoned? She still had no idea what was going on. She found she did not care what had just happened to her. There was no way she was going to lay around in this stupid bed.
"Oh, no, no, I'm so sorry." came a female voice, "We didn't mean to intrude, we just-"

"-Had to see the new students." another voice finished. It belonged to the handsome boy beside the first girl. Terry hadn't seen anyone so beautiful before. She stared at him for good ten seconds before snapping out of her trance. They introduced themselves at Eilowyn and Sage. They seemed friendly enough but Terry didn't want to stick around here for too long. Josie wasn't far. "Hi! Nice to meet you, I'm Terry," She got up on wobbly legs and stumbled to her feet, only to slip. She caught the side of the bed and held her throbbing head in pain.

"All students report to the auditorium in the next five minutes!" came a voice on the loud speaker.

[Snarfulblast]

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!?!?",Lucas gets up and brushes himself off before he heads off to the auditorium. Upon making it to the giant auditorium, he walks to a very far corner far away from the people gathering in the auditorium, hoping people didn't try to sit next to him. He pulls out an iPod, puts in some headphones, and then with some difficulty he turns it on and pulls up his music app. He pulls out one of his headphone buds.

[Subject Zero]

As Terry explained who Josephine was, Cammy found herself thinking about her own family. She hadn't seen them in such a long time. Her dad had taken her younger brother, Charlie, into hiding and while they made contact every now and then, Cammy had no idea where they were. Her dad had told her it was safer that way. The implication had been that it was safer for Cammy but she knew the truth. He meant safer for Charlie. If the people looking for Cammy somehow managed to find her, chances were they would want to know where the rest of her family were in order to make sure none of them had powers too. Cammy understood the logic but it didn't make her feel any better.

Despite her father's warnings on the danger, Cammy's older brother, Mohan, had elected to not go into hiding and instead stayed in college. He had so far managed to avoid any kind of trouble. Inexplicable as that seemed to Cammy. She had a feeling he would be safe though. Mo had always been strong and independant. He knew how to take care of himself. Cammy had practically idolized her older brother while growing up and wanted to be just like him. She loved her family to pieces and they had returned that love. That's why it seemed so strange to her that Terraline was so afraid of her own sister.

Xander then winked at her again and Cammy could only narrow her eyes in confusion. She wasn't sure what to make of this guy. Sure, he was cute and all but he seemed utterly heartless. She was almost glad when he left, pushing his way past Eilowyn and Sage. She noticed the look Eilowyn gave Xander as he left and the awkward length of time Sage and Terry made eye contact for. It was almost like she was invisible by the bedside.

In days gone past, Cammy would probably have been more upset about being practically ignored by her fellow students. After all, it wasn't like she hadn't gotten to know them in the year since her arrival here. But these days she honestly didn't mind. She wasn't really interested in socialising anymore. She had retreated into herself since her mother's death and seemed to only really talk to others when they addressed her first. Her desire to help others was really what had driven her to find her way to Terry's room, rather than the random curiosity of the others.

When Terry began to get out of bed, only to stumble, Cammy was quick to grab hold of her to stop her falling to the floor. This time she didn't bother asking for permission and put her hand to the other girls head, instinctively knowing that she was in pain. Terraline would begin to instantly feel the pain leave her and her head clear as Cammy used her power. Still holding onto Terry, Cammy dropped her head slightly as a dull throb coursed through her skull. The ain quickly dissipated however and Cammy was quick to smile at Terry in assurance that everything was alright.

"All students report to the auditorium in the next five minutes!" a voice bellowed over the tannoy.

"We better go" said Cammy to the room "There'll be hell to pay if we're not there." Still holding gently to Terry's arms, Cammy informed the girl "Trust me, you're safer here than anywhere else. And if that sister of yours tries anything, she'll have me to deal with." She gave Terry her friendliest smile before turning to the others and saying "Come on. Let her get dressed. We'll wait outside." She made a show of shooing them from the room and right before closing the door, she looked over her shoulder at Terraline and informed her with a smile "Welcome to Riverwood"

[Lord Santa]

Nick listened to Pam's excuse but he still couldn't help feeling guilty. It did feel like he'd done something insensitive, which he likely did. He honestly wanted to know about the rumours, but he should've known that it would be a sore point for a lot of people if it was true... Pam had assured him that she was alright, but he couldn't help worrying.
"Well..." Nick said, trying to word it right. "Sorry if I said something I shouldn't have..."

Suddenly, a voice bellowed over the loudspeaker and Nick jumped, surprised at its loudness and spinning in the direction of its source. It was calling all students to the auditorium, apparently.
"Looks like we gotta go." Nick said to Pam. "Where's the auditorium again?"

[MarshiestMallow]

Pam shook her head, wanting to put Nick at ease for she could see that the boy seemed to blame himself for her ruffled feelings. "It wasn't anything you did or said really. I...Sometimes I just get overwhelmed, by everything that's happened to bring me here. Sometimes I just really miss my parents. And sometimes it hits me that I have no home anymore" she gave Nick a weak smile, and continued, "so it wasn't really anything you did, or said. Please mm don't think that" now she felt bad that she was making Nick feel bad.

She wanted to reasure nick that he hadn't made her feel bad, but felt like she was just making it worse. She sighed softly, and Lance nudged her with his nose. She stroked his head, and looked up at the voice on the loud speaker. She bit her lip, and closed her eyes as if thinking.

Lance tugged at his lead, and she just decided to follow his guidance "this way" she said, with an easy smile

[Rina]

"You might as well come back in a bit Levi." One of the nurses said, walking up to Levi who was waiting to hear any news about the girl. "She isn't in very good shape and will take some time for her to fully recover but at this time we don't see anything life threatening. If you are going back to the storage closet to continue cleaning that up, I'll be more than happy to come and get you once we are done."

"Yes, that would great." Levi said, concern written on his face as he looked at the curtain. He wanted to stay there and wait for her but as the nurse said, there wasn't much he would be able to do until their work was done. As he worked on reorganizing the medical supplies, Levi wondered where the girl came from and she might have went through to end up the way she did. With the dirty condition she was in she must have lived on her own for awhile or seeing what the case was for most people in the school as well her being found in a hospital gown, was running away from something. He could still vividly remember his time spent confined and tested before arriving at Riverwood and seeing someone so young that went through a difficult situation was heart wrenching.

He was lost in his thoughts and wasn't sure how much time passed before the nurse that spoke to him earlier came to see him. "Wow, you've gotten a lot done here." The young nurse said looking around.

"It's not done but it's close. How is the girl?"

"She's weak but we've done the best we can with her injuries. If you like you can go ahead and see her. I think we can finish up the rest. Thank you helping out." The nurse said as the two walked out of the storage room and headed to where the girl was, pausing just enough to grab a blueberry muffin from the nurse's lounge. Although he wasn't sure if the girl would be in any condition to eat, he felt that giving her the chance if she was hungry would be good.

"You all are the real heroes here in the infirmary. I just help out with whatever I can." As the two parted ways and Levi entered the room, for a moment he thought he saw some sort of light flicker away from his peripheral vision but with the light gone before he could look towards the girl he wondered if something was actually there or just a flickering signal caused by his powers.

Sitting down in a chair beside the girl, he observed that the nurses did a good job on fixing up the girl, she seemed to be in a much better condition now. Setting the muffin down on top of the nightstand beside her, it didn't take long before she started to stir. "Don't worry, you're safe here." Levi said with a soft smile as the girl opened her eyes. She had an odd visible mutation but with all sorts of mutations found at the school, he wasn't bothered one bit by her appearance. "My name is Levi. You are in a safe place with people with powers just like you. We can protect you and keep you safe here. You don't have to run anymore." Levi said emphasizing that the girl was safe yet again. Waking up in a strange place with strange people after going through whatever traumatic situation she went through, he wanted to make sure she was reassured, or at least as much as she could.

His focus wavered slightly as the speaker system was turned on, giving an involuntary flinch. Even though no one was talking on the system yet, the mere action of turning the system on was very obvious to Levi, especially with the speakers present throughout the school. Seconds later, the announcement came on. Levi looked towards the girl a bit concerned. With the condition she was in he wasn't very comfortable moving her but knew that she probably should go as well.

"I hate to do this to you right after everything that happened but we will have to head to the auditorium."

[Joshua Tamashii]

The girl moved her head to look at Levy, her expression one of pure confusion. Who was this man? She had never seen him before. Where was a lab coat? Or his suit? Or those metallic things that some of the men carries around? She was completely confused by him. The next thing she spotted was the blueberry muffin on the table next to her. Groaning, she slowly sat up, which visibly took her some effort on her part. The nurses had cut the back of her shirt to allow her wings to come through it. At the moment, she didn't have the strength to keep them up, so the stick-like appendages simple draped over her back, the crystals on them sparkling when the light hit them the right way. She looked down at her new cloths and tugged at them, confused by the shirt and jeans. She couldn't remember if she had ever worn anything like them. She didn't even know what they were.

Now even more curious, the girl looked around the room. It was nothing like any she had seen. There were more colors, things she had never seen before, people she had never seen before that looked like nothing she had seen before. When the loud speaker came on and the voice issued from it, she jumped and immediately put her hands over her ear as she began shaking. Why was someone being so loud? Were they yelling at her? What had she done to be yelled at?

She would remain like that, not hearing a word Levy said as she curled up into the fetal position. She didn't know what was going on. She didn't recognize anything around her. She didn't recognize anyone around her. Everything around her began to scare her as her fear started to overcome her previous curiosity.

[Potter]

When there was no response, Josephine sighed. This was helpful – not. She grumbled and sat up with difficulty, wheezing. She scowled in annoyance. This would not do. Josephine Grey could not be in a vulnerable position. It was ridiculous. Screw it, she the thought bitterly. She was going to act as if nothing happened because damn it, she was Josephine Grey and she was a strong woman.
When the voice came over the intercom, she couldn't help but jump in surprise. This made her jerk her body and caused pain to ripple through her. Now furious and embarrassed, Josie listened to the voice, whilst cursing it. "All students report to the auditorium in the next five minutes!" She mimicked it in her head and swung her legs over the side of her body. Stupid auditorium, she thought nastily as she slowly stood up on her burned feet. She stared in disgust. This was ridiculous.

Josephine glanced at the clothes and wobbled her way into the bathroom after snatching them. With difficulty once more, causing her to grumble more, she was dressed. Josie glanced at her ensemble; a t-shirt with the words "Riverwood Academy" on it and a pair of black pants. They had to be joking. This was absolutely ridiculous. She came out and looked around for another option without success. Furious, Josephine smoothed down her hair and went to exit the clinic when Xander entered.

His presence surprised her. This meant he had survived. Did this mean her sister had as well? Although she hated him with a passion as well, it was not as intense as her hatred for Terraline. He at least had some usefulness in the world. Besides, he was almost as good as she was in being dark. It was easy to mess with Terry but not her brother. She eyed him reproachfully, then finally said with a tone of mock derision, “Guess you survived. Congratulations. You can get your gold medal at the orientation.”
________________________________________________________________________

Ellowyn stared at the boy who asked, “What is this a side-show? You people have nothing better to do huh?” He sighed, brushing between the boy and girl to Josie's room. Ellie scoffed- that was not true. Being chased by this monstrous boy was not on her list of activities. Anger coursed through her; but a quick hand on her shoulder that belonged to Sage, was enough to quiet her down.

“I’m really sorry. We didn’t mean to intrude – we just entered the nearest room without looking. “I... I am really sorry. It was my fault. Not his. I – yeah, we’ll go.” Ellowyn doubled backwards out of the room hastily and slunk down the hallway. She felt awful for entering the room by mistake, but where else could she go? Drew had been on her tail and she was panic-stricken. This was never going to stop haunting her; not even in the afterlife, it would haunt her. She could barely hear the voice of the intercom; it something about going to the auditorium.

The guilt from her past as well as now began to reoccur; Ellowyn’s breathing became quick, her hands sweaty, and her heart rate faster than normal. It was never going to end. She could not drag anyone else into this. Poor Sage was involved now due to her. She bit her lip. She found an empty hallway and grabbed her head, perching on a ledge. Bits and pieces of the memory began to resurface much to her dismay.

The wail of a siren – the screams of people, the rushing wind around her. A woman’s hysterical cry, then a man’s hoarse voice whispering despairing words of apologies; Ellowyn’s stark expression that morphed into horror when –

“Ellowyn! Ellowyn! ELL-O-WYN!” Her head snapped up, nearly snapping her neck. Ellie’s wide green eyes which had been stuck open, were now fixated on the figure above her. The creamy blonde hair that had been neatly placed, was now a disarray around her head. The sweat protruding from her head and hand, were making noticeable marks around her. She quickly folded them together and then stuffed them in her pockets nervously. She had not noticed, but she had jumped backwards and landed a few spots from where she was originally. “Ellowyn,” Sage’s voice was calmer now and soothing as he knelt beside her and took her clammy hands. “You’re okay. Breathe in and out, darling.”
Ellowyn nodded, focusing hard on taking deep breathes and reminding herself the same thing. She was okay – for the most part. It was over. Gone. Still, it did not feel like it was over. Nevertheless, she smiled at Sage shakily and nodded. “Of course it is. Thanks, bud. Let’s go.” He straightened up and offered her his hand, which she accepted. Ellowyn stood up, and began making her way down to the auditorium with Sage beside her.
______________________________________________________________________________________

As Sage escorted Ellowyn to the auditorium, he found it increasingly difficult to focus. He was worried over Ellowyn, and every few seconds he would glance at her. She was impassive now and strong as ever. It was if nothing had happened. He knew she was able to act strong and cherry, but deep down, he knew it wasn’t true. What had happened to her was not something that would disappear quickly. He sighed quietly.

His thoughts traveled back to the sister and brother. What was their story? They looked as if they had gone through hell and back. God only knew what happened. This damn X-Force muddled in the wrong stories and destroyed so many lives. He wish he could put a stop to it. He was tired of seeing gaunt faces at the academy of kids, teens and even adults, whose lives had been permanently destroyed or altered due to them. Sage clenched his fists. He knew to a degree how infuriating it was to this mess.

He forced himself to think of something else. The thought that came next was the beautiful girl in the hospital. She had the prettiest shade of brown hair and the loveliest eyes. Sage wondered if he could talk to the family, especially her. As much as he greeted others and welcomed them, he couldn’t help but feel his gut clutching at the thought. This wouldn’t be as easy, especially with their initial greeting. Sage hoped she would be able to forget it.

Glancing once more at his best friend, he wrapped an arm around her comfortingly. “Over there, let’s go. It’s an opened area.” He told her as he entered the auditorium and scouted for a pair of seats. Ellowyn nodded, slinking towards it gracefully, barely making a noise. He admired how easy it was for her to appear invisible. It was a trait that while he didn’t possess her skill or grace, but felt back at home. Sage bit his lip and then turned his thoughts back to the orientation as the duo sat down.

[Penguin]

Terry stared at Cammy in amazement as the pain left her body, "How'd you do that?"She whispered to her. Before Cammy could actually answer, an announcement telling them to go to the auditorium rang through the room. So this really was some type of school.

"Trust me, you're safer here than anywhere else. And if that sister of yours tries anything, she'll have me to deal with."
She was sure Cammy would think twice before saying that if she actually met the girl. Josephine wasn't a force to be reckoned with. Terraline could remember hiding under her bed as a child to get away from her. Cammy went on to tell her to get dressed. Dressed? Dressed in what? Did she have any clothes? Heck, any belongings? Nonetheless, Terry smiled thankfully back at the girl, "Thank you, Cammy. You've been so sweet."

"I’m really sorry. We didn’t mean to intrude – we just entered the nearest room without looking. “I... I am really sorry. It was my fault. Not his. I – yeah, we’ll go.” Terraline glanced at the girl in the doorway speaking, "Hey it's okay, no worries," Terry told her gently but the girl was backed out into the hall anyway. She thought about seeing if the girl was okay; she had really seemed freaked out. However her friend seemed to be aiding her fine.

Walking wasn't so hard now that the pain was gone. She stood and glanced at herself in the mirror to see herself from the first time since arriving here. The dull blue hospital gown swallowed her skinny body and her brown hair messily fell across the length of her chest. Fear swam in the piercing blue eyes that stared back at her. With a deep breath, she turned and glanced at the nurse, "Excuse me, but is there any clothes I can change into?"

"Yes dear, many of your belongings have been brought here for you. Your brother was kind enough to tell us what was important to you."
The woman brought over a suitcase and set it down, "We always allow students to bring everything they need here. If you need anything else we will have it fetched for you."

"Thank you."She opened the suitcase to find many of her old clothes from her room. Hastily, she changed into a pair of jeans, sneakers and a white t-shirt. Terraline threw her hair in a quick side braid and rejoined Cammy outside the door. "Hey... Where's the auditorium?"
Her answer came rushing past her. Teens and young adults were rushing down the hall toward a common place, no doubt the auditorium. "Nevermind, let's go," She followed the movement to a big open room with a stage and tons of seating. She sat in the back and saved a place for Cammy.

-----------------------------------
“Guess you survived. Congratulations. You can get your gold medal at the orientation.”

"I'm sure they have something for you too, dear sister," Xander approached her and eyed her. Although she was a total bitch, part of him did care for her. She didn't seem to be too physically hurt. "let's hurry to the auditorium, plenty of innocents for you to terrorize," Regardless if she followed, he made his way to the auditorium. The guy was already speaking on stage upon his arrival.

"New and old students, welcome. You will each receive a handbook of rules and guidelines that contains your class schedule and dorm room and just about everything you'll need! New students this must be very weird for you and I understand. You were gifted with a special ability that sets you apart from other humans. No one is allowed to know you exist in the outside world. The government has a secret branch that was created specially for you. They are trained to kill you and destroy everything tied to your existence. You are being hunted right now. Why? Because your ability makes you a threat to other human lives. Here we give you a safe haven from these hunters so you can learn to control it so you can never use it again. You will learn to control so that you can conceal. In the outside world, power use can be detected thus it must be concealed to avoid death. If you so try to use your powers outside this school, you will be picked up by expensive technology this branch of government uses and they will find you and kill you. That's why it is important that you learn to conceal this ability at all costs. Is this understood by everyone?"

Xander mumbled, "If we're so gifted why are we being told to hide our gift? Why don't we all stand up to those assholes? We're stronger than them." He glanced to the side to see Terry narrowing her eyes. Even the goody two-shoes didn't like this idea.

[Snarfulblast]

(singing)"I would swallow my pride I would choke on the rinds but the lack thereof would leave empty inside, I would swallow my doubt turn it inside out find nothing but faith in nothing." Lucas stops singing long enough to catch what Xander said.(not singing)"Well for one they have power neutralizers, and for two no one here wants to be killed by those bastards." Lucas goes back to singing.

[Rina]

"Hey, you're okay." Levi said reassuringly as he sat down beside the girl on the bed. "It's loud but that was just someone talking on the speaker system. It's nothing to be afraid of." He was a bit surprised at how badly she reacted as if she never heard a speaker before but didn't put too much thought into it as he just assumed that she must have just been overwhelmed after all she went through. This concerned him on how she would act once they were in the auditorium with all sorts of sensory stimulus reaching her. He wanted to keep her here until she had a chance to recover a bit more but knew that wuen the announcement said all students, it included her.

"I'll be right back, okay." Levi said giving the girl a light squeeze on her shoulder before leaving and returning with a wheelchair. With the condition she was in, walking seemed like a terrible idea. Putting the wheelchair besides the bed and locking the wheels, Levi turned his attention towards the girl. "I'm going to move you over, okay."

With the girl so tiny, putting her into the wheelchair was easy and once she was settled, grabbed the muffin he had earlier and placed it on her lap. "I bet you're hungry. Go ahead, you can eat it while I take you down there."

Luckily by the time they enter the hallways, most of the students were already there or nearly there so there wasn't too many students. Finding a spot in the last row, Levi moved the wheelchair besides the last seat and sat down besides the girl just as the speaker started.

~.~

"Do you think we lost them?" Mia said stopping after she turned down a hallway that was less used. However there was no answer. "Rebound?" Mia said, slightly panicked about the silence. Turning around she saw that he wasn't there and as an announcement of some sort went off summoning everyone to the auditorium she had a feeling finding him would be challenging, if not impossible as she watched the hallways become packed. She was alone again.

Following the students to where she assumed where the auditorium was, Mia tried to see if she could find a familiar face but none was to be found from what she could remember.

Finding an empty seat, Mia sat down as she watched more students enter in the auditorium. Luckily with her already in the general area, she entered before things were even halfway full so finding a seat wasn't too difficult. Waiting a few minutes wasn't a problem for her as she observed the different types of students enter, some of their powers physically obvious. As the room became filled, she watched as someone start to talk. Although she guessed she probably heard this information before if she was able to retrieve her memory, but to her all of this information was new to her. However the more the man spoke, the more questions she had.

[Joshua Tamashii]

The girl glanced up at Levi as he spoke to her. She didn't understand what he was saying in slightest but his tone seemed... nice enough and it made her feel a bit calmer. She slowly sat back up again after he sat next to her, staring up at him curiously until he got up and walked away. Behind both of them, the grey crystals on her back glowed as small lights came out of them and gathered behind her. A small, winged woman, no taller then six inches, formed from the lights and quickly flew up towards the ceiling before Levi came back with the wheelchair.

The girl looked alarmed and scared when Levi suddenly picked her up. That only happened when she did something bad. Had she done something wrong? Was he going to hurt her? If he was, how was he going to hurt her. All three thoughts quickly ran through her mind, but she quickly became confused when he placed her in some weird thing that looked like a chair but wasn't. She got even more confused when he placed the thing that had been on the table next to him on her lap before saying more things she didn't understand.

Curiously, she picked the object he had given her up before examining it. It felt weird and when she moved her fingers across it's surface, small pieces fell on at parts. When she sniffed it, it didn't smell like anything she knew of from the labs. Curiously, she took a nibble from it and found it to be rather soft. It also tasted good, causing her to excitedly take a bigger bite, which had a few blueberries in it. Having eaten little more then bread, some flavorless mush, and plain water while in the labs, the taste of the blueberries was rather strong for her, causing her to gag a bit and quickly put the muffin down, now a bit scared to eat it.

By this time, they had reached the auditorium. The girl could do little more then look around and stare in wonder at everything and everyone around her. This was unlike anything she had ever seen before and it fascinated her. But then the speaker began talking over the mic and she once again covered her ear while taking the fetal position, whimpering in fear.

The fairy, who had followed behind the two and flew to the roof when they entered the auditorium, quickly noticed this as well as the red crystals on the girl's wings glowing slightly. Cursing, she quickly flew down to Levi and stayed behind him, around his ear.
"Get her out of here before she really gets scared and the Hound decides to try and burn this place to the ground." She whispered to Levi before quickly flying towards the ceiling again.

[MarshiestMallow]

As Pam led them to the auditorium she already knew they would be late, with a quick flash of sight, she saw that they would literally stumble in, half way through the speech. Well, she would. She didn't know about Nick. She sighed softly, and resigned herself to this.

Lance happily wagged his tail as they walked, and Pam couldn't help but smile. He was her constant, and if it hadn't been for Lance, she doubted she would be here right now. He had led her out the fire that had killed her parents (don't think on it, not until later, she thought), and he had helped lead her here. She had been here a few weeks, and was still settling in.

She'd arrived scratched, dirty, her hair a mess-full of leaves, twigs, dirt and God knows what, her clothes a mess, torn and stained with her own blood, the only thing except for Lance she had was her necklace, which she hadn't worn since arriving, she had probably seemed like a begger. Given clothes, food and somewhere to sleep, she had spent her first week practically in bed, barely moving, grieving for her lost life, her parents. And then, all at once, she had accepted her lot and vowed to make the best of it.

It was this she was thinking off when she tripped over Lance, the dog now waiting patiently for her to open the auditorium door. Well, she opened t already as she stumbled through it, tying herself up with Lances leash. Lance gave a loud bark, and nudged her with his cold wet nose, giving her face a lick. Her face reddened as she was sure that a lot of people were looking at her and the fuss they made.

She managed to free herself from Lance's lead, grimacing as she pushed herself back up. "Well that wasn't embarrassing" she said softly, quickly moving aside, to find some chairs for them all. As the man spoke, Pam didn't know what to think. Confirmation then on why they were here and what had happened and why it was all happening.

So her parents had been killed because of what she was. As people grumbled and mumbled, clearly not liking this, Pam found herself angered and standing, as she yelled out "you're probably all not happy with this, with having to hide. I'm not either, but I'm not stupid to think that standing up to them will be worth it. How many people will die for that war? I do not want to be responsible for that" she was surprised at herself, and she looked around as if she were trying seeing them all. Which right then, she was.

But why, oh why was she making such a spectacle of herself?

[Lord Santa]

As Nick listened to the speech, he just got more and more worried. A technologically advanced government branch devoted to hunting down supernatural kids and making their deaths seem like an accident? It sounded extremely far-fetched, but he'd seen enough to believe anything at this point.

With that said, technology that can detect the use of powers? That sounded just a little too much like science fiction. How did that even work? Did they have some kind of thing in their bodies that plays up when they use their powers? Did that mean that people with powers like Nick couldn't leave because their powers were on all the time?

That thought brought up other ones, none of which were particularly helpful. He'd left home because of a rumour, and now that the rumour was true, he couldn't leave. He couldn't really associate with his family anymore, or else they would be killed. They might already have been killed, but there was no way he could know. Assuming they weren't, however, it brought up problems regardless. His parents told him to leave, but he hadn't told his friends about it. They all thought he was dead; but now Nick was as good as dead to them. He could never leave, and he would never see them ever again.

Nick was snapped out of his thoughts when Pam yelled something that put him at ease.

"you're probably all not happy with this, with having to hide. I'm not either, but I'm not stupid to think that standing up to them will be worth it. How many people will die for that war? I do not want to be responsible for that."

It pulled Nick out of his little world and made him focus on others. It wasn't just him that had to hide, there were many more people around who were in the same situation. Even then, Nick could consider himself lucky for being able to arrive of his own free will. At least his parents could take solace in the fact that he was alive.

Now wasn't the time to worry about his old life. A new life was beginning in Riverwood Academy. He could make new friends, see new things. If he was going to have to live with it, he should make the most of it. And the first thing to do was to offer some support to his new friend. He cupped his hands over his mouth in a cone shape to help his voice carry and took a breath.

"I agree with that statement." He announced, voicing his support. "Fighting hurts, and it ain't good for you."

[Snarfulblast]

"Yeah like I said although nobody probably heard me, why would you want to fight people that take us experiment on us then use the ones they can to track us and then nullify our powers. Yeah that's right they use us, well they use an emotionless shell of the people they take but yeah. Now some of you probably don't believe me but then again I'm basically theory crafting with the emotionless shell thing but it makes the most sense, because I know a few people here have powers that allow them to sense others powers and some who can nullify others powers." Lucas has made his way over to Nick and Pam the two people he seems to have found to be comfortable with.

[Rina]

Mia was a bit startled when a student sitting behind her suddenly stated to yell out to the others which was followed by a few others. She wasn't exactly sure where she stood in terms of what was going on, much less knowing exactly what was happening. She didn't feel like joining the rest of the students and jumping up to contribute but rather decided to keep her thoughts to herself and watch things unravel quietly as she tried to understand and figure out what exactly was happening from what everyone was saying.

~.~

"Wha..." Levi said looking around with a confused expression. It didn't appear that anyone nearby him spoke to him but by looking at the girl, the voices were accurate on how the girl wasn't doing very well. He wasn't exactly sure what the hounds were but whatever they were, they sounded pretty appalling. "Just hold on, I'll get you out of here." Levi said before he got up and wheeled the girl out of the auditorium and entered the first room he past which happened to be a study room with two large tables, knowing far too well that the hallways would be crowded after the students were dismissed.

"Don't worry, things are going to be okay." Levi said, pulling up a chair in front of her and sat down. "I'm sorry about that. It was a bit too much too soon wasn't it...Umm..." Levi said pausing before noticing that he didn't know who she was. "Oh whoops, I guess I never did get you name." Levi said with a slight chuckle. He couldn't put his finger on it but the girl seemed a bit odd. Whatever happened to the girl before arriving at the school wasn't very good.

[Joshua Tamashii]

The girl didn't notice anything as she blocked everything out as best she could. It was only once Levi was sitting in front of her that she finally opened her eyes and looked at him. She once again remained silent and simply stared at him before realizing they were in a different room that was once again, filled with things she didn't recognize. As she looked around, Levi would be able to spot something he had missed up until now, which was a small tattoo of the number 266 on the right side of the girl's neck.

Not only that, but Levi would find that they were not alone.
"You know, you're not going to get a single word out of her." The voice from earlier said, as the fairy came down from the ceiling and hovered between the girl and Levi, watching him with her arms folded as her wings seemed to be catching some sort of wind that shouldn't exist in the room."She can't talk you know. She can make some sounds, but talking always seems to cause her nothing but pain."

Taking a brief second to avoid the girl's hands as the girl curiously tried to catch the fairy, the fey looked rather miffed at this
"I am not something you try to grab!" She shouted, causing the girl to flinch and shy away. Sighing, the fairy turned back to Levi."Sorry about that. I am Sylph, the Spirit of the Four Winds. I'm a wind elemental. I suppose you could also say I'm a spokesperson for this girl, though I don't know much about her myself. None of my comrades do either."

[Potter]

Xander's comment made Josephine smirk. She loved to terrorize people and he knew it well. She sighed and began to follow him. As students passed by on their way, they glanced at her. She gave them sweet smiles, though she wanted to ring their necks. When she arrived, the man was speaking already. She scanned the crowd and ended up sitting beside Xander, who was sitting next to Terraline. The bitch survived? Why? What was she good for? Josephine sighed and ignored her. She didn't have the energy to make a sarcastic remark towards her. Her burn marks were currently scorching.

"New and old students, welcome. You will each receive a handbook of rules and guidelines that contains your class schedule and dorm room and just about everything you'll need! New students this must be very weird for you and I understand. You were gifted with a special ability that sets you apart from other humans. No one is allowed to know you exist in the outside world. The government has a secret branch that was created specially for you. They are trained to kill you and destroy everything tied to your existence. You are being hunted right now. Why? Because your ability makes you a threat to other human lives. Here we give you a safe haven from these hunters so you can learn to control it so you can never use it again. You will learn to control so that you can conceal. In the outside world, power use can be detected thus it must be concealed to avoid death. If you so try to use your powers outside this school, you will be picked up by expensive technology this branch of government uses and they will find you and kill you. That's why it is important that you learn to conceal this ability at all costs. Is this understood by everyone?"

"No," Josie mumbled and glared irritably. This is what she climbed out of bed for? People were so dumb This lecture could have been given to her in the hospital wing.

She turned as she heard Xander mumble; If we're so gifted why are we being told to hide our gift? Why don't we all stand up to those assholes? We're stronger than them." Of course Terraline gave a disapproving glance, her eyes narrowed. This girl was truly good for nothing.

"Right?" She agreed dryly. "These asses already fucked us over once. Why let them do it again?" There was no way in hell that she was "going to hide in fear. A distant, vague memory began to fill her mind that she automatically pushed out. Whenever it surfaced, she would push it away. Josie felt something she rarely felt before that accompanied it: nervousness.

A girl's yell startled her and made her whirl around to face the speaker. What idiot was yelling now and why? Was it necessary? No, it wasn't. Jose made a mental note to terrorize the little shit later on. Her head was pounding from the smoke inhalation and unnecessary noises were driving her nuts. "You're probably all not happy with this, with having to hide. I'm not either, but I'm not stupid to think that standing up to them will be worth it. How many people will die for that war? I do not want to be responsible for that"

She raised an eyebrow. The little shit turned out to be brave, but foolishly so. She sighed and shook her head, turning back around in order not to freak out. Another voice responded. Josie counted to ten before she lost her cool. "I agree with that statement." He announced, voicing his support. "Fighting hurts, and it ain't good for you."

Josephine sighed and rubbed her temples with annoyance. When would these idiots shut the fuck up?
_____________________________________________________________________

Ellowyn listen vaguely to the speech, looking around every which way. She pulled her jacket on her and pulled her hood up. The last thing she wanted was a confrontation from Drew in front of everyone. With a sigh, she turned to see Sage had left a note saying "Be right back". Ellowyn sighed and turned to see a girl sitting by herself (Mia) nearby. She looked as if she didn't want to comment on anyone's yelling, and Ellie didn't blame her. Still; a part of her panged for the girl sitting alone. It was a lonely thing that nobody should have to face. Ellowyn stood up anxiously and sat nearby her.

"Hey," she greeted gently, as not to startle her. "Would you like to join us? It's okay if not. My friend, Sage, went to the vending machine, but he'll be back." Ellowyn was used to rejection; it was something she faced daily. The scars on her face, neck, and shoulders weren't attractive. She didn't blame people for turning away in disgust. Ellowyn sighed and awaited the girls' response. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the siblings from before. To her shock, there was another sister. She looked away before anyone noticed her glancing over - especially the brother who was making her stomach churn with nervousness.
_______________________________________________________________________

Sage ditched the speech after a few minutes. It was the same thing he heard every year and was tired of listening to. Moments late,r he was glad he had left as he heard echoes of student's yelling replies. Despite it all, he was grateful he was here and not at home. Anywhere was better than being at home. He would never go back to that wretched place if he didn't have to. The greediness of what was considered the upper-class disgusted him. Still, he had used the money for selfless reasons, which only outcasted him. Sage could relate to Ellowyn's consistent loneliness; though his reasons weren't for his physical appearance.

He sighed and went to the vending machine. After buying a bag of sun chips, he went back to the auditorium. The damn thing had almost ate his money. It wasn't that he was in dire need, but he only had so much at the moment. He looked around, briefly wondering where he had been sitting. He looked around and spotted Ellowyn's creamy blonde hair and quickly joined her. As he neared, he saw she was speaking to a younger girl on joining them. On his way back he waved to a group of the other students. He smiled and sat beside Ellowyn, stretching out and setting his feet on top of the chair in front of him.

With a crooked smile, he turned to greet her as well, his United Kingdom accent strong as ever. "Ello mate," He nodded to her.

[MarshiestMallow]

As Nick and Lucas voiced their support of her, Pam felt herself relaxed, relief flooding over her. Was this what it was like, to have people back you up? to feel like they cared about you? Her parents had never supported her like this. They never believed her, never believed that her abilities were real. And ultimately, that had been their downfall. If they had listened, would they still be here?

Don't go there, Pam She thought to herself, that will just make you bat crap crazy, She looked to Nick, to Lucas. "Thank you" she said to them softly, hurriedly sitting back down. She didn't expect anyone else to speak up, but she knew there were several people who thought differently.

Well, so be it. She didn't have to fight. Why would she fight? Flashes of fire, memory flashed in her mind. Oh. Right. That she thought. Could they track her, even here? Could they track her, if she disappeared? Of course they could. Dd that still mean she had to fight? it was her choice, surely.

She sighed softly, and suddenly, she just needed to be away, away from this crowd of people who seemed half hostile, half afraid. "I need to...to get out of here" She said to Nick and Lucas, rising, nudging Lance who rose, leading her out the seated students, she didn't run from the room, but it was close. She slid out the doors, and swallowed as she leaned against the wall. Would she ever get over what had happened? Would she ever know what to do?

[Lord Santa]

"Oh, um..." Nick said as Pam left. "See you later?"
She eventually left his sight, behind a corner. Nick was worried about her a lot, but he decided it wasn't really his place to pry. Perhaps she would tell him if she wanted to, but asking about it would probably only make it worse.
"I should probably leave her alone for now." Nick concluded.

He reluctantly turned his attention to his handouts, wanting to see his classes and dorm assignments.
"Hey, Lucas." Nick said, greeting him. "What dorm room do you have?"